17 Comments - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, May 26, 20 @ 9:14 am: ===I’m seriously thinking about taking two or three days off next week.=== Go unwind, get a mental break from everything. As you, and many, many others have been on the 7 day work week, and not just work, but intensely important work, detailed work, in the cases of governing and covering this governing, a grinding work of mental strain… go “away”, get away from the 10+ weeks of strain many are facing. To the lede of this post, after adding chocolate chips to banana bread, I ventured into scones, specifically blueberry scones and the therapeutic aspects of baking, it’s been a good release of pent up frustrations of life, and the worry I’ve had for others not me, friends and family specially. The scones turned out great, unsalted butter is critical. - SOIL M - Tuesday, May 26, 20 @ 9:18 am: Food Looks great. Had to mix up another batch of Magic Dust last night since I was out and have more smoking to do. Always keep Magic Dust, Big Bob Gibsons Shoulder Rub, and Holy Cow Beef Rub in hand. Recipes for all came from Peace Love and Bar-B-Que. If you do your own Smoking, this book is one of the best you can find. - SOIL M - Tuesday, May 26, 20 @ 9:27 am: Also, Watched the first episode of Grant last night. It is a good series. Was especially interesting since the area the first episode focused on was his time in St. Louis, Galena, and early part of the war when he was headquartered in Cairo, and moved on to Paducah and Belmont KY then into TN ending at the battle of Shiloh. Since I have visited all of the places shown, some only once when I was young, and some many times, I enjoyed it and couldnt stop watching. - Fighter of Foo - Tuesday, May 26, 20 @ 9:28 am: 1/3 salt 1/3 pepper 1/3 paprika some garlic powder has been my dry rub for almost everything for years… When I was a younger man, Shannon used to have a BBQ cook off, I sat up all night with my Weber Bullet drinking beer among the pros with their auto smokers and one pulled me aside and after a few too many let it slip… It was in time to put the chicken on the smoker. I took 5th with it. Never entered another contest.. So simple, if you ever run out of the good stuff, give it a try. You won’t be disappointed… - Chatham Resident - Tuesday, May 26, 20 @ 9:39 am: ==Also, just FYI, I’m seriously thinking about taking two or three days off next week.== I’d go for it. Maybe the only posts on those days (with comments closed) are the daily COVID-19 case/death counts, and the press conferences. Unless major news comes up. - JoanP - Tuesday, May 26, 20 @ 9:39 am: =I’m seriously thinking about taking two or three days off next week.= Good, you need and deserve it. Hang out with Oscar; he’s a lot cuter than any legislator. Like OW, I’ve been baking a *lot*. I’m embarking on blueberry muffins later today, having finished the bagels I made late last week. I truly enjoyed the weekend. The weather was glorious here, so on Sunday I took a very long walk, through part of Jackson Park and back via the Wooded Island. Lots of folks out, but masked and respecting physical distancing. I realized that lack of exercise takes its toll, because it was probably a good four mile walk and I really ached afterwards. Worth it, though. - Chatham Resident - Tuesday, May 26, 20 @ 10:21 am: Secretary White has just announced the SOS’s reopening plan starting this Monday, June 1. Including expanded hours at driver’s facilities, and limitations through July 31 on what types of drivers/vehicle-related transactions can occur (e.g., expired licenses and stickers, new drivers, vehicle transactions). https://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/news/2020/may/200526d1.pdf - bogey golfer - Tuesday, May 26, 20 @ 11:04 am: @Fighter of Foo, you don’t include brown sugar in your rub? @Rich, take some time to recharge. - Anonymous - Tuesday, May 26, 20 @ 11:22 am: This is a huge development for the Illinois State Archives (under SOS). The photo negatives collection of Eddie Winfred “Doc” Helm will be digitized with the help of a $60K federal grant. Doc Helm was the official State Photographer from the 1940s until 1992. “. . . Helm photographed at least three presidents, several presidential candidates and politicians, and celebrities including Nat King Cole, Bob Hope and Sammy Davis Jr. The collection includes diverse images such as the governor addressing a joint session of the state legislature during World War II, the first group photo of the newly created Black Legislative Caucus in 1967, and photos of capitol tour guides in the 1970s, dressed in uniforms like those worn by airline attendants at the time. Along with serving as the state photographer, Doc Helm was also considered a leading photographer in central Illinois and arguably the most important African American photographer in the state during the mid-20th century. . .” https://www.historyillinois.org/WorkingPages/Newsroom/TabId/3234/ArtMID/7855/ArticleID/125357/State-Archivist-Jesse-White-and-Illinois-State-Archives-Receive-60000-Federal-Grant-to-Digitize-Photo-Collection-of-Illinois%E2%80%99-Historic-African-American-Photographer-Doc-Helm.aspx - Huh? - Tuesday, May 26, 20 @ 11:33 am: =I’m seriously thinking about taking two or three days off next week.= Good bye. Why are you still here? - Huh? - Tuesday, May 26, 20 @ 12:12 pm: The next time you get your smoker out, smoke a store bought corned beef to make pastrami. Use a dry rub of your choice. Smoke for a couple of hours, then put in oven to steam. I use a broiler pan filled with water as a steamer. Put the smoked pastrami on the broiler pan rake, seal tightly with foil then steam for several hours. A delicious treat. If get adventurous, brine your own corned beef from a beef brisket, then smoke to make the pastrami. - Cheryl44 - Tuesday, May 26, 20 @ 1:47 pm: Did you get your boat out of storage Rich? - Blue Dog Dem - Tuesday, May 26, 20 @ 2:07 pm: maybe Illinois should volunteer to host the GOP national convention. Mt. Vernon? - Rich Miller - Tuesday, May 26, 20 @ 2:13 pm: Cheryl44, still working on it. - Huh? - Tuesday, May 26, 20 @ 2:29 pm: “host the GOP national convention.” How about Xenia. - LINK - Tuesday, May 26, 20 @ 2:37 pm: Huh?, that pastrami sounds delicious! Are you all using pellet smokers? I love mine, a Camp Chef, but wish I had bought one that could act like a normal BBQ grill so as to brown meats too. - Huh? - Tuesday, May 26, 20 @ 4:14 pm: Link - I use my weber kettle grill and indirect heat. I try to keep the vents as closed as possible to keep the temperature down. I use apple wood chips to provide the smoke. While using the google key a couple of years ago, I learned that pastrami is just smoked corned beef. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.